Service and packaging:
Derrick provides great service time and time again which is why I am a repeated customer of his. Shipping may take a while but I'm totally fine with waiting; it could be I live in Canada and First Class Mail International (USPS) is slow. He packs his stuff filled with peanuts so the bulbs are nice and safe.

Products:
Theres 2 things in which I will be reviewing today: White LED side marker bulb replacements and GP Thunder 7500k V2 Fog lights.

White LED side marker bulb replacement:
I don't understand why people would waste $40 or $50 to buy a set of LED sidemarkers with aftermarket lens unless it is smoked. This is why I chose to keep things as OEM as possible and just bought replacement bulbs for $5.99 from Derrick. Very economical and error free!
The bulb is clear in color which is a plus because the stock ones are orange and they show through the lens. This LED bulb is cleaner and more "stealth" if you will.
Many will choose to upgrade to LED's because they are crisper and have faster "on and off" speeds compared to the "glow" a traditional bulb offers. My car is a E90 LCI and all indicators are LED except for the sidemarkers hence this upgrade.

At this price there really isn't anything to complain about, and there isn't.

Install
it is as easy as swapping your drop-in air filter for your OEM intake box.

1) grasp the lens and push BACK towards the rear of the car
2) wedge your fingernail at the front of the lens and pry up to free the lens from its locked position.
3) wiggle the assembly out
4) lift the white tab with a small flathead screwdriver.
5) twist clockwise. the lens will be removed after this step.
6) pull stock bulb up and out with fingers
7) insert new LED bulb in (it is polarity sensitve and it can only work 1 way, so when you insert the LED bulb, turn on your hazard lights to see if the LED turns on. If not flip the bulb around and retest.
8) reverse the previous steps to reinstall

All in all this is a piece of cake and literally took me 1 minute to do per side.

Results

BEFORE

AFTER

Brightness is about the same stock vs LED. I have no regrets for this upgrade and there are many colors to choose from, I just so happen to have chosen white. Next time I will try Amber.

And there are NO ERRORS!

watch the youtube link to see the blinking in action!

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GP Thunder 7500k V2 Fog lights
I have reviewed the GP thunders in the past for Angel Lights and these are absolutely a bargain for the performance and looks it can offer.

Now however, I will be putting these H8 bulbs in as fog lights. (E90 LCI models use H8 for fogs, same as AE's). Granted it is not as bright as stock bulbs because of the higher color temperature but there is barely any fog in my area and I did it mainly for looks and to color match my AE's and Xenons. the GP's emit a bright white color with a very slight bluish, greenish tinge to it compared to stock which is bright yellow white. the output is still the same as stock at 35w. for the record the stock units are Osram branded.

If your area always has poor weather conditions, maybe get HID's or a 3000k temperature replacement bulb. But these do the job in my side of town and I love the color match.

Stock (left) GP Thunder (right)

Install
This install in my opinion is similar to the AE's, not as tricky but it involves you getting down on your knees and taking out 6 screws per side, from your bumper.

I followed this guide to remove the screws from my bumper. (thanks zzzbullseye)

tools needed: 8mm socket wrench or ratchet

my instructions:
1) turn the wheel all the way to one side
2) remove 4 screws from underneath the front bumper (refer to guide)
3) remove 2 screws from fender lining
4)depress small black tab underneath the bumper while pulling at the fender lining to reveal the fog light
5) locate foglight (its dark in there) and pinch the base of the fog light connector HARD to unclip the tabs.
6) pull down while pinching to remove the fog light connector
7) twist counter clockwise and remove bulb
8) replace bulb and reverse steps to complete install

This is the connector I'm talking about. PINCH at the base of the clip HARD and PULL or else you can never unplug it from the bulb. I learnt the hard way...

this is what the connector looks like.

It took me about 20 minutes to do 1 side after i figured out the way to unplug the connector from the bulb. its not a hard install at all.

Results:

Stock (left) GP Thunder (right)

Both sides installed GP thunder

Note the color difference is visible between the LED angels and the GP thunder fogs

I'm very satisfied with these fogs! Color match is around 85% and the color appears to match more or less depending on lighting conditions. Its hard to capture the color differences and it is more noticeable in person. When it is dark, LED's are more blue and the fogs are more white. During the day the color match is spot on and difference is negligible as you seen in the day time pic. Granted no halogen bulb will match LED bulbs 100% because they behave differently in different settings. In conclusion, a solid product and is definately a good buy.

I'm not sure how these will stack up to Mtec's 4300k bulbs so I cannot comment. however, performance wise I am sure they are the same. The reason I didn't go with GP thunders 8500k is because I didn't want to suffer too much from a decrease of light output. It will be too blue. this is perfect, nice and white, no more ugly yellow.

I just ordered the Amber version of the side marker lights that you ordered along with the same fog lights!

I also ordered a color matched reflector as well!

I can't wait!!!

I will keep you guys posted

yeah, i'm curious to see how the amber version is too! it be awesome if you took some pics.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. G

Another great review from gaifun!

I will definitely buy the sidemarkers ASAP! haha, I never knew this cheap option was available.

I have the 7500k fogs, I will be installing them with an 8500k and seeing if I can capture the colour diff on cam.

thanks man! I was surprised too! this has to be one of the cheapest mods to do. Albeit it may not be as bright as the $70 Weisslicht ones because those have 3 LEDs compared to just 1 LED replacement bulb, you can't really argue with $5.99 list price...

I've been driving around during the day and I see that the stock amber bulb is more visible in sunlight because the LED is white. I may have to try the amber ones later on!

as for the 7500k fogs, its a very good match with the Xenons but it matches the LUX less because the LUX is a bit more blue. I think the 8500k would match the LUX nicely. Do the review and comment about the light output of the 8500k! I'm concerned with the loss of light output the higher in color temperature you go.

just check the box of mine gp thunder and it said 8500 color temp, maybe thats way its looks blueish, and didn't match with my oss

that explains it. yeah 8500k will result in even more loss of light output. bluer and slightly dimmer than 7500k.

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnsonz1122

gp thunder looks nice. but mine blew out today , suckss

really? i have 2 sets and they haven't failed me yet. anyways if it did, just get a new set lol. they're dirt cheap. General rule of thumb. turn on the bulbs and leave them on. don't turn them on for a minute and shut it off after. you'll increase the chance of a halogen bulb's failure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ferg

Do the side marker lights flash upon startup?

nope. not flickering if thats what you're asking. they do flash twice when i unlock. flash once when i lock, just like OEM.

i can't wait to test amber versions, hope they will be more visible during the day since its amber in color!